A street robbery -- of a cell phone -- prompted a five-hour standoff at a central San Bernardino apartment, but it turned out that no one was inside, police say.

"We fired some tear gas into the house," Lt. Travis Walker said of the 7 p.m. police entry Tuesday, July 19, along the 2100 block of North Sierra Way. "The suspect was not in the residence when the SWAT team cleared it."

The incident began about 1:15 p.m. with a street robbery, he said.

The victim and witnesses reported that the robber ran into a nearby four-plex apartment unit, prompting police to¬ surround the area and attempt to persuade the man to come out with his hands up.

"They've blocked off some streets in the area," police spokeswoman Eileen Hards said about 2:30 p.m. "They've evacuated a few homes on that block."

Soon afterward, a SWAT team moved into the area along with an armored car.

"We (also) made several announcements to make him surrender," Walker said. "That didn't work."

So eventually, the SWAT team went in after the man. The apartment was empty.

Join the conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful
conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments,
we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful,
threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent
or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law,
regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.